On 18 November 2018 a strong earthquake occurred in the Fiji Region at a depth of 520 km. The seismic event occurred at 20:25:45 UTC and had an estimated moment magnitude (Mw) 6.6.
A series of planetary alignments occurred from 12 to 19 November, converging with critical lunar geometry on 16-17 November. The direct trigger was the Venus-Mars-Neptune alignment on the 16th and the Moon's alignment with Mars and Neptune near the same time.
Sun-Mercury-Neptune 2018-11-12, 12:37:36 345°12'52" Venus-Sun-Jupiter 2018-11-14, 5:43:42 242°44'50" Venus-Mars-Neptune 2018-11-16, 12:08:38 343°52'10" Sun-Mercury-Mars 2018-11-18, 23:23:19 15°55'29" Venus-Mercury-Saturn 2018-11-19, 2:00:14 278°02'45" Earth-Moon-Mars 2018-11-16, 4:28:42 329°54'03" Earth-Moon-Neptune 2018-11-17, 7:36:21 343°27'06"